Posts Tagged ‘the cross’

The cross has been the center of discussion and debate since the early beginnings of Christianity. What exactly happened that night? Did it even have to happen? What was Jesus going through as it happened? Who benefits from what happened on the cross? These are the simplified versions of some very complex theological questions arising from our understanding of Christ’s work on the cross but if you think about it, so much of the way you live the Christian life is rooted in what you believe really took place on the cross. The author himself spells out how important this is in his comment

If you take away the cross as an atoning act, you take away Christianity.

Outline

R.C. Sproul’s most recent book The Truth of the Cross checks in at about 167 pages, a quick read if you are willing but certainly not sparse in depth. When the cross is discussed, normally you would hear the words atonement, justification, sacrifice, redemption, substitution, debt, suffering, and hell. Amazingly enough, you will find all of these topics covered in this book in a way that RC is well-known for: easy to understand but never lacking in thought-provoking theology.

Obviously in a shorter book like this it is difficult to thoroughly examine all of these topics but that wasn’t the author’s intent. The author seems to have written an introductory book, giving the reader who may have questions about the cross or maybe hasn’t ever studied some of these topics a good overview of the subject.

Although the book answers a lot of questions throughout its first nine chapters, I particularly enjoyed the tenth chapter, “Questions and Answers”. Some great questions are asked and RC briefly responds with just enough to cover the question but leaves the reader to ponder some more and, hopefully, dig into the Bible for more answers. I wish more authors provided a Q&A section within their books; a mini-catechism of sorts. This also serves as a good quick-reference guide to the book written in a much more readable form.

Summary

This is a great book for those looking for a quick introduction to the questions they have about the cross and some of the more theological terms associated with it. But of course, this would be an excellent book for anyone who has studied the cross but loves to hear the story again and again.

Here is a great post from The Blazing Center on biblically dealing with regrets. The reason I liked it so much is because it focuses on the cross and Christ’s great work. It reminded me of a great sermon John Piper preached, it dealt with the guilt of sexual sin but the underlying theme is the same:

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.Romans 8:1

When we look to the cross, we see the extent to which God despises sin. He does not take lightly our rebellion against Him nor does He see any of our good works as worthy enough to satisfy His wrath against our sins. At the cross we see God willing to send His only son to die a most horrific death to pay the penalty we justly deserve. The gospel shows us the lengths God has gone to so that we can be free from the enslavement our sin keeps us in. If God was willing to send His beloved to die in our place for our sin, He could not expect anything less than that same sacrifice from us. The sacrifice He desires is for us to offer up our most beloved, to put to death the sins that keep us from following after Him.

When the Jews were about to cross over into the Promised Land, God commanded them to wipe out all of the nations that were in the land He was about to give them. They were not to leave any remnant in the land because He knew that their idolatry and worship of false gods would lead His people away from the one true God. We have this same command with the sin in our lives, we are to remove every idol and be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect. We are to leave no remnant of sin and idolatry in our lives, God demands nothing less than the complete eradication of sin throughout the lifelong process of sanctification. In the gospel we see the death of Jesus Christ for our sin and that compels us to put to death the sin in our lives.

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” – Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives